Google's Driverless Car Is Worth Trillions

Post by lucian1900 » Thu, Jan 24, 2013, 11:49 AM UTC

pkorzeniewski wrote: post #133

Cushman wrote: post #50

I've been saying this to anyone who will listen for years. I really believe this technology will touch everything . Real estate markets will shift dramatically as the average commute time halves or quarters. Transport costs will plummet, making every single physical object cheaper. Public transit will be dirt cheap, always punctual, and take you absolutely anywhere. Tens of thousands of people each year will escape d…

You're missing one important factor - many people, me included, just like to drive cars and they don't treat them as "transport vehicle only". I would refuse to use a driverless car even if it would be more economic, more safe and would transport me faster.

Post by taligent » Thu, Jan 24, 2013, 11:52 AM UTC

jsnell wrote: post #131

cremnob wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people here seem to have the blinders on about this. It's kind of funny. I've posted this before the last time this came up. Car companies have been working on this for a while, unless Google's offering is just light years ahead of the rest, no car company is going to pay a Google tax for this tech (and it's unlikely it will be any better than what they are already working on). https://news.ycombinator.com/i…

Every manufacturer is not going to have their own solution. The top few, sure. But it's a different story for the long tail. It can't possibly make sense for all the companies with 1% market share and no notable software knowledge to write their own systems, especially with all the likely regulatory hurdles. It wouldn't be good, and it wouldn't be cheap. There's clearly going to be a huge market for commodity solutio…

Post by taligent » Thu, Jan 24, 2013, 11:53 AM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #5

jacques_chester wrote: post #2

This assumes Google will have the market to itself. Cars aren't like search. It's not a winner-takes-all market.

Google's not selling cars. It's selling automotive technology that will soon become standard in cars.

Post by taligent » Thu, Jan 24, 2013, 11:57 AM UTC

coopdog wrote: post #15

moocow01 wrote: post #4

The market is worth trillions... not Google's solution. One thing tech reporters seem to have failed at recognizing is that this research has been taking place at every major car company out there - many many others are legitimately in the race. Ultimately its the manufacturers that get to pull the trigger on how driverless cars will become driverless.

Still, I can't help but feel that maybe Google have the final piece of the puzzle. We've had computers and sensors powerful enough for decades, only Google have all of that maps data, polished again and again by android users using maps (and now Ingress) to make it more reliable. Google almost specialise at crunching massive data into useful products, and building reliable supersystems from millions of unreliable sub…

Post by tluyben2 » Thu, Jan 24, 2013, 11:58 AM UTC

geden wrote: post #125

lukifer wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will definitely exist, but not everybody will want to give up personalized cars. Too many people see their car as part of their identity. We have the tech right now for every workplace to have open seating and non-personalized computer workstations, and while some companies do this, most people still want their own desk space and personalized computer.

I think only freaks / hobbyists / throwbacks will end up owning cars. You don't have a personalised power station do you? Transport is just a means to an end. They'll be new and cheaper ways of signalling status with driverless cars, equivalent to 1st class travel on trains. Note that in Europe car ownership amongst the younger demographics is plunging. The novelty has worn off, no one can be arsed with them anymore.